Grounded
by AndAllThatGoodStuff
Summary: "I'm serious. You're grounded, Kendall...no video games, no guitar lessons, no leaving the house, no hockey…and...and...no more Logan!"


"Kendall Knight!" Mrs. Knight storms into the living room where her son is spread across the couch and absently flipping through the TV channels. He doesn't even look up at her when she stands in front of the screen to get his attention. Her face flushes with anger when Kendall picks up his cell phone and continues ignoring her. "Have you seen your grades for this semester?" she asks, holding up the report card that just came in the mail.

The grades are low and just barely passing except for gym which he passed with flying colors. Kendall finally looks up and glances at the sheet. "Yeah, they were way higher than I expected," he chuckled and continued texting on his phone.

Mrs. Knight's jaw unhinges. "Kendall, this isn't acceptable," she said. "Do you think I'm going to let you sit around all summer with your friends and then go back to school and get more grades like these?"

Kendall doesn't answer.

"I'm serious. You're grounded, Kendall. You're gonna start doing more chores around the house," Mrs. Knight began pacing as she listed all the things she would do to punish Kendall for his low performance in school. "No video games, no guitar lessons, no leaving the house, no hockey…" she paused and a deep frown formed on her face. Kendall was still tapping away on his phone and when he would stop he would sit there and grin like a lovesick puppy at the one he got in return.

The auburn haired woman had to fight the urge to aw at the sight. She watched the two boys' relationship blossom at a gradual level for many years. The moment when Kendall came to her and admitted that he had a crush on his best friend didn't come as a shock to her, and it was even less of a shock when she found out Logan had a crush on Kendall as well.

But in this situation, she had to ignore how happy she was for the two of them and be a mom, but Kendall wasn't taking her seriously. She was shaking with anger, trying with difficulty to think of something that would capture her son's attention. "And…and…" she reached forward to snatch the phone out of the teenager's hand, ignoring the exclamation of protest. "No more Logan!"

Kendall's eyes went wide as he stared at his mother's angry face. "What?"

"I have your attention now, don't I?" Mrs. Knight smirked. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before you ignore me."

"Alright, mom," Kendall sighed and stood to look at his mother with a serious expression, "I'm sorry, okay? I promise I'll do better in school." He gave a hopeful smile and held out his arms.

But Mrs. Knight wasn't amused. "You're still grounded," she said, crossing her arms.

"Fine," the teen sighed again and reached for his phone, but Mrs. Knight pulled the device out of his reach.

"That includes no phone."

"But how am I supposed to tell Logan that I'm grounded?"

The older woman gaped at her son. "Did you not just hear me, Kendall? I said no Logan. For two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Kendall gawked as well. "Mom, that's not fair!"

"And it's not fair to me when you make grades like this," she held up the report card, "and then ignore me when I'm talking to you."

"But I can't go two weeks without Logan! I l…like him…a lot," Kendall trailed off awkwardly, lifting his hand to rub the back of his neck. His mother wasn't the first person he wanted to say that to. "Just…please, mom. You can take away everything else, but please don't take away Logan," the blond pleaded.

Mrs. Knight nearly faltered, but she stood her ground. "No, you have to understand that you can't get away with things like this. If I show lenience now then you'll just keep doing it." At the look of absolute heart break on her son's face, she sighed. "I'm sorry, but you have to learn somehow."

"But I apologized!"

"Sometimes that isn't good enough, Kendall."

With a huff, Kendall fell back into the couch. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a child. Mrs. Knight knew there would be no talking rationally to the stubborn blond at that point, so she sighed and left him to his sulking. Katie glanced at her mother as she passed her in the hallway then turned to her moody brother. "Mom looks steamed. What'd you do?"

"I wasn't listening to her lecture so she grounded me," he grumbled.

"Standard grounding?" the brunette preteen questioned with a blank expression.

"Advanced," Kendall groaned. "She took away everything. Even Logan!"

Katie hissed in mock pain at that. Even she thought that was a little harsh, but after a beat of thought she nodded in approval. "Way to go mom. I didn't know she had it in her."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "I just wish I had a chance to tell Logan what's going on. I don't want him to think I'm ignoring him," he sighed and then a light bulb went off above the blond's head. "Katie, let me borrow your phone."

The young girl made and face and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's in it for me?" Kendall stood and dug into his pockets for his wallet. When he found it he pulled out twenty dollars that was taken and examined in the light by Katie almost as soon as he did. Once she decided it was legit, she pulled out her phone and handed it to Kendall. "Anything for my big brother," she said with a smile.

"How sweet of you…" Kendall smiled in return then went to dial Logan's number before his mother could come in and catch him. "Pick up, pick up, pick up…" he mumbled to himself as the phone rang.

"Katie?"

"Logie, it's me!" The blond couldn't believe just how much he had come to miss the brunet's voice within the past ten minutes. He sighed, "Mom took my phone away."

"…What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Kendall huffed. "She's being completely unfair, and she says I can't talk to you for two weeks." There was a pause and Kendall was worried that the call had dropped. He felt like his mother would return any minute. He had to make this quick. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah…and you're right. That isn't fair," Logan sighed. "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong, and if you can't see me then I can't see you. That's like I'm being punished, too."

Logan's voice was meek, making Kendall's heart break at how small the genius sounded. "I'm sorry, Logie," he said quietly. "I'll fix this. I promise."

…

Fixing it turned out to be harder than Kendall thought.

After he was caught sneaking a call to Logan on Katie's phone, Mrs. Knight added another day onto the punishment. The scheming blond brushed it off as a minor setback. He was being careless, and he was no amateur at sneaking behind his mom's back. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Phone calls were traceable and his mom could easily check them for evidence. He needed something craftier. Something his mother wouldn't catch on to.

Kendall groaned and fell onto his bed when he came up with nothing. It was so much easier to scheme with Logan. The genius had no problem with critical thinking and eliminating ideas and factors that wouldn't work. Once Logan did that, Kendall would easily be able to conduct a master plan—that was almost always executed with grace and precision with the help of James and Carlos.

Kendall sat up and snapped his fingers with a smirk. "Mom!" he whined as he made his way downstairs to where his mother was preparing dinner. "Mom, I'm so bored. Can I _please_ have someone over?"

Mrs. Knight looked up with narrowed eyes. "You're still on punishment, Kendall."

"I know, but you took away TV, video games, my phone, hockey, and _Logan_," Kendall had to avoid the smirk that was attempting to creep up his face as he thought of the loop hole he just found. "You didn't say anything about James and Carlos." Mrs. Knight stopped stirring what was in her pot and pursed her lips. "It's not like we would have much fun anyway. You took everything," the teen frowned—more like pouted—at his mom.

Mrs. Knight was sure that Kendall was verging on stomping his foot and shouting that she was being unfair like a small child—again—if she didn't say yes. She had to admit, aside from sneaking phone calls the first day Kendall had upheld his end of the deal with his grounding. "Fine _but_," she relented and quickly went on to the conditions before Kendall could break out in his happy dance. "Only one of them can come over."

"But m-"

"If both of them come over, they'll cause trouble with each other then bring you into it," she said pointing an accusing finger at her son.

Kendall sighed, knowing it was true. "Okay."

"And," Mrs. Knight continued, "I want you in the living room where I can keep an eye on you."

"Deal," Kendall nodded and turned toward the living room to use the house phone.

"Uh-uh," Mrs. Knight shook her finger at him and then pointed at the phone just a few feet away from her. "You can call them from right here."

Damn.

He forgot that with years of practicing his scheming, his mom got plenty of practice when it came to busting him. Kendall nodded and slowly walked over to the phone. He glanced over his shoulder to see the woman was watching his every move with scrutinizing eyes. The blond frowned and dialed the first number that came to mind.

Within a few minutes, James was in his living room and Kendall was trying to ignore the hairs standing on the back of his neck from being able to just _feel_ his mother's watchful eye. "Why did you call me over when there's nothing to do here?" James complained. "And why couldn't Carlos come?" his whine became even louder.

"Because…" Kendall paused, not wanting speak ill of his mother when she could so easily hear him. "Because we never hang out, just the two of us, anymore," he shrugged. "Remember the good old days, before we met Carlos?"

"Kendall, we were two." James stared blankly at his friend. "I didn't even start paying attention until we met Carlos."

Kendall ignored the annoyance he felt from the comment and moved on. "Anyway," he glanced over his shoulder to make sure his mom was busy and lowered his voice. "I need you to do me a favor." James looked back as well then back at Kendall with a serious expression. "I need you to tell Logan to leave his window open for me tonight."

"I knew you didn't want to hang out with me!" James then made a face at the plan. "And I was just at Logan's why did you just-"

"Wait, you were with Logan?" That would explain how James got to his house so quickly. Kendall's expression softened as he thought about his boyfriend. "How is he?" he asked playing with his hands.

James took in a deep breath and let it out. "He's lonely," he answered honestly. "He was kind of mad at first that you screwed up so badly that he had to suffer too, but after that he just wanted someone to hang out with. He really misses you, dude." The pretty boy's eyes brightened and a smirk formed on his face as a thought occurred to him. "He actually wanted me to tell you something."

His heart started to beat with excitement. "Yeah?" Kendall sat up with interest.

"He wanted me to tell you that you're an idiot," James laughed and Kendall deflated. When James continued to laugh, he reached over and punched James in the arm. "Ow! He said it with love!"

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just tell Logan what I said, okay?"

There was that face again. "Okay…" the brunet sang and stood from the couch and started heading toward the door.

"And…James?" Kendall's voice was hesitant as he called behind him. He turned to see Kendall's eyes settled on his lap as he fidgeted. "Um…tell him that I miss him too, and I'm really sorry."

…

"He wants me to what?" Logan settled an incredulous stare at his tall friend. Carlos watched the two brunets from the genius' desk chair as he munched on a corndog.

"He probably plans on sneaking in your room tonight," James said with a shrug.

Logan, however, looked horrified by the idea. "He can't-but Mrs. Knight-"

"I think you should do it," Carlos spoke up.

"What?" Logan glared at the Latino.

"I think it's kind of romantic that Kendall would sneak out for you." Carlos' cheeks flamed as the words left him. "He knows he could get caught and in more trouble but he's willing to risk it to see you."

The brunet bit his lip in thought. When Carlos put it that way, he had to admit that it was kind of romantic and after not being able to see Kendall's face or hear his voice for three days, it would be nice to see him again. "What do you think James?"

The pretty boy looked up from the mirror in his hand and sighed. "I think you're both being ridiculous. It's only been a few days and if you get caught then Mrs. Knight will just add more days onto Kendall's punishment." He shook his head and moved his gaze back to his reflection. "Honestly, I don't think it's worth it."

Carlos was frowning at the tall brunet and shook his head. "You don't have a romantic bone in your body."

James gasped. "I do so!"

"Then you're telling me that if you and Carlos couldn't see each other for two weeks that you wouldn't sneak and scheme your way into seeing him again, even for just a few minutes?" Logan smirked at the muscular boy.

Carlos' brow quirked, looking forward to James' answer. The pretty boy sat there, wide-eyed under the pressure of his friends' gazes. "Well, I-I mean…you should leave your window open," James mumbled and slumped against the wall with a light blush covering his cheeks.

The short boy grinned and Logan couldn't help but chuckle. He still didn't approve of sneaking around and breaking Mrs. Knight's rules but… "You can tell Kendall that my window will be open."

…

Kendall waited exactly forty-three minutes after his mom's bedroom door closed to slowly climb out of his bed and climb through the window of his bedroom. He expertly moved down the tree outside of his room and then jumped down to land on his feet. He smiled at his coordination that was still intact.

He then took off toward Logan's house and with just as much dexterity he climbed the tree in front of Logan's open window and climbed into the genius' bedroom. He stumbled a bit in the process, but once he was fully inside, he barely had time to think before he was being tackled to the floor. "Logan-"

He was cut off by Logan's lips repeatedly pressing to his. Kendall chuckled, pulling Logan closer and into a deeper kiss. The short boy moaned into the kiss and pulled back with slight panting breath. "I missed you," he mumbled, pressing kisses all over Kendall's face. "You're an idiot, but I missed you so much."

Kendall returned the favor and wrapped his arms tighter around the smaller boy's body as he kissed every bit of skin he could reach without letting go of the boy. "Logan, I-"

"Ahem." Both teen's heads whipped toward the door when Mrs. Mitchell suddenly cleared her throat. She smirked at the couple and waved with her cellphone clutched in her hand.

_Damn_, Kendall thought. His mom was better at this than he thought.

"Mom," Logan quickly stood up—much to Kendall's disappointment. "I can explain."

"I'll deal with you later, Hortense," Mrs. Mitchell eyed her son and the brunet winced at the use of his real name. "Kendall, your mom wants you home right now."

Kendall sighed and stood up with a groan. He faced Logan and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "Bye," he said sadly.

"Bye," Logan gave a small miserable smile in return and sighed as he watched Kendall leave.

…

Kendall was right back where he started—two weeks without Logan.

He decided shortly after being sent back to bed that his mother was just as crafty as he was and he wouldn't be able to get anything passed her that would bypass any normal parent. No, Jennifer Knight was a super parent, and Kendall would have to bring in Special Forces to get what he wants.

"No way," Katie shook her head at her brother's request.

Kendall's jaw fell. "Why not?"

"Because mom is serious about whatever you did. I've never seen her crack down on you so hard," the young teen still sounded impressed by her mother's actions.

"What if I double your usual fee?"

"Tempting, but the answer is still no." Kendall gave a heavy sigh and sunk down in the cushions of the couch. "Sorry big brother, but if I get caught helping you then mom will ground me too."

Kendall nodded in understanding. After Mrs. Knight figured out that James helped Kendall and Logan communicate, she had him clean out their gutters. The pretty boy ended up getting mud and leaves in his hair and doesn't plan on talking to Kendall for a long time. "Fine, I'll just think of something else."

Katie's eyes narrowed in disapproval. "Don't you think the smart thing to do would be to just wait out the rest of your grounding? Mom's too good, and you'll get caught again."

The blond's face contorted at the accusation. How could his own baby sister have so little faith in his schemes? "No, I won't."

"Yes, you will," Mrs. Knight said as she walked through the living room with a load of laundry. She shot a smirk in the direction of her son's gaping face then chuckled at the small out that formed after. The auburn woman left her children alone once again and continued on with her day.

"She's good," Katie commented then patted Kendall on the back. "Good luck."

Kendall exhaled loudly once Katie walked away and he realized that he was stuck…and bored. He should have been out with his friends playing hockey or video games, or out with Logan while the genius explained something he didn't fully understand. Though it never mattered what Logan said, he always looked cute when he said it.

Instead of that, he was stuck on the couch where he couldn't watch TV and he couldn't talk to his friends. Maybe Katie was right. He should just stop trying to sneak around his mom's system and should start taking his punishment like a man. Who knows, maybe the two weeks will fly by.

…

The days did _not_ fly by!

Kendall wasn't sure how much time had passed but it felt like much longer than two weeks. All he ever did was wake up, eat, do chores, and sleep. He felt like a mindless zombie by the time the clock hit noon every day. Mrs. Knight was proud that her son was finally accepting his grounding and was no longer trying to disobey her, but after the first few days, she started to take pity on him.

He looked so lonely and sad without Logan, without anyone. Even Katie stopped hanging out with him and started leaving the house every day to go to the arcade—under James and Carlos' supervision, of course. That just left her son to mope around the house and do nothing. After a few days, even the complaining about being bored stopped and left the house in silence for most of the day.

After Kendall was finished mowing the lawn and collapsed on the couch, Mrs. Knight sighed and closed the book she was reading. "Kendall, I want to talk to you."

"Do you want me to trim the hedges now?" Kendall mumbled into the throw pillow that his face was buried in.

Mrs. Knight frowned a bit. "No, I wanted to talk to you about lifting your punishment."

The blond caught a second wind and sat up to stare wide-eyed at his mom. "Really?"

"Yes, but only if you can tell me why I grounded you in the first place," Mrs. Knight's eyes narrowed toward the teenager's expression that showed he was caught off guard by the condition. "Well?"

"Uh…" Kendall wracked his brain for an answer but came up empty.

Mrs. Knight shook her head. All this time and Kendall still didn't get it. She flipped her book open to the previous page and got comfortable. "When you can tell me that, I'll lift your grounding," she said then continued with her reading.

"Can I have a hint?"

After a moment to think, she nodded, "Sure. What were you doing when I grounded you?" Kendall's face remained clueless and the woman rolled her eyes. This was going to take a while.

…

_"Kendall Knight!" Kendall barely hears his mom yelling for him over the sounds of the TV and his own thoughts that may or may not have been centered around Logan lately—well, centered around Logan more than usual. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that the genius returned his feelings. _

_Just a few months for they were released for summer vacation, the school held a dance. The group of boys opted not to get dates this year and ended up spending their night together as a group. At that dance, while James and Carlos were goofing off and slow dancing together, Kendall took a leap and leaned over to kiss Logan._

_Ever since that moment Kendall stated with pride that Logan was his._

_And as he was flipping through the TV channels, Kendall paused on a station that was playing the song—their song—that was playing when Kendall finally decided to kiss Logan. Well, he could only kind of hear it over his mom's talking. The teen reached over onto the coffee table for his phone and started composing a text to his boyfriend._

_"Hey Logie, I was thinking about you :)"_

_"Have you seen your grades for this semester?" Mrs. Knight's words finally penetrated through his thoughts._

_Kendall looked up at his grades and felt a bit of relief when he saw that he passed. Considering how often he was late to class because he was making out with Logan, how little studying he did because he was making out with Logan, and how many lectures he didn't listen to because he was thinking about Logan, he was surprised he even made the grades he did. "Yeah, they were way higher than I expected," he chuckled then grinned when he saw Logan texted him back._

_"What a coincidence. I was just thinking about you ;)"_

_The blond felt his heart speed up as he typed back, "Really? What about me?"_

_It was almost a whole minute later—and yes, Kendall counted—when Kendall got the reply, "Just how amazing you are and how safe and incredible you make me feel when I'm with you. Sometimes I just can't believe that you're mine."_

_He had to check to make sure his body wasn't literally melting from the words because his boyfriend was so perfect and he doesn't think he's ever loved someone so much. A smile spread across his face and he felt completed in a new way that he knew that no one else could ever attempt to emulate. "I'll always be yours," he texted back then added, "I couldn't leave you alone if I tried."_

_Not that he ever would._

_"And…and…no more Logan!" His phone was then snatched from his hand and Kendall was left staring, eyes as big and round as dinner plates at his mother's fuming expression. "I have you attention now, don't I? Maybe next time you'll think twice before you ignore me."_

Kendall sat up on the couch as it all came back to him, but the excitement faded from finally figuring out the answer to getting his punishment lifted he became overwhelmed with guilt. It was a terrible son. Never once had he ignored his mother and he always tried his best in school, but he didn't do it on purpose.

He was just so into Logan that he couldn't think about anything else.

That wasn't an excuse. He deserved to be grounded for two weeks. He deserved much longer. "Mom…" Kendall gave a loud sigh and stood to go find his mother. He found her in the kitchen, preparing dinner and took cautious steps forward. "Mom?" The auburn woman looked up at him with curious eyes. "I'm so sorry for how I've been acting lately. I've been so into having a boyfriend that I forgot my other responsibilities and that isn't fair to you."

Mrs. Knight smirked and gave a small nod. "Congratulations, I guess you get to see Logan now."

Kendall's lips pressed into a line and to his mother's surprise he shook his head. "I deserve the punishment you gave me. It's only fair."

Mrs. Knight blinked. "Wow…that's…wow."

The teen gave a tiny smile and pointed behind him. "I'll go trim the hedges." Mrs. Knight was still only able to stare as her son walked out of the kitchen to do more chores.

…

Kendall sneezed and groaned as more dust went up his nose. He had been dusting the family photos aligned along the stairway for the past ten minutes and his nose had been suffering for it since. The blond had been working nonstop around the house—even though his mom told him to take a break hours ago. He wanted to make it up to her, and doing chores and studying once school started again was the only way he could think to do it.

When the doorbell rang, Mrs. Knight yelled from the kitchen, "Kendall could you get that?"

"Sure-" Kendall sneezed as he accidentally swiped the feather duster under his nose. "Sure, mom!" He sniffled and huffed when he thought of all the dust that was still in the air that would have him sneezing all day, but those thoughts flew out the window when he opened the door to see Logan on the other side of it.

"Logie!" Kendall was then very aware that he must look like crap from all the sneezing he was doing. "What are you doing here?"

"Your mom called me and told me to come over," Logan said, brows coming together as he took in Kendall's red nose, flushed cheeks, and watery eyes. "Are you sick?"

"No, I was just dusting and…my mom called you?"

"Yes, I did," Mrs. Knight appeared at the door and held her arms out to Logan. "Hi, Logan, I missed having you around here." Logan stepped forward to return the hug, though he was still confused. "I know you said that you wanted to wait out the rest of your punishment, but I think that because you've learned your lesson you should at least be able to see Logan again," the mom explained as she gave Logan a gentle push in Kendall's direction.

The couple was so in shock and tentative that they wouldn't even lift their hands to touch each other. "Are you serious?" Kendall asked, hoping that his mother wouldn't be as cruel as to dangle Logan right in front of his face and then snatch him away.

"Yes, I'm serious," Mrs. Knight chuckled then turned around to go back to the kitchen. "Have fun you two."

Kendall couldn't bring himself to speak and Logan didn't even bother with words before he launched himself into Kendall's arms and kissed him deeply. The taller boy had to keep himself from stumbling and the feather duster in his hand clattered to the floor from the surprise of his boyfriend's initiative. Before he could think to kiss back, Logan pulled away and landed a punch to his arm. "Don't you ever get grounded again," the genius demanded with a serious glare.

"I promise," Kendall laughed, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. "I really missed you."

Logan's scowl faded and he broke out into a smile once again. "I missed you too," he said as he curled his arms around the blond's middle. His grin widened when Kendall's arms circled around him as well. The couple stood in the embrace, taking in all the features that they missed and just happy to be in each other's arms again. Logan nuzzled into Kendall's neck and smiled as he inhaled his boyfriend's scent. "Is it crazy that I think I love you?" the genius mumbled.

Kendall held the short boy tighter. "Only if it's crazy that I love you too."

The brunet couldn't help himself as he pulled Kendall into another long and tender kiss. The two only broke when Katie came bounding down the stairs and teased, "Get a room!" as she passed them.

Kendall rolled his eyes at his little sister but was intrigued by the smirk his boyfriend was sending his way. "My mom isn't home," he whispered with a sly smile, laced his fingers with Kendall's longer ones, and pulled the dazed boy out of the door with ease.


End file.
